Is sweating a necessity during an effective workout session?

Are you one to believe that a good sweat is necessary to ensure that you are having an effective workout?

Or, do you think since you have been sweating profusely, you have been killing it in the session? If you are, then you are not alone. Since sweating is the most visible form of response by the body to any form of physical exercise, it is natural for one to assume it is the truth.

However it is a Fitness Myth, and here’s the explanation to help you understand what exactly causes you to sweat out in a heated workout session and why it matters. But it is not a good indicator to measure how many calories you might have been burning.

What makes you Sweat?

Your body has got a mechanism (called homeostasis – to maintain balance in the body) that regulates core body temperature up to a certain degree on its own. When we do any form of exercise, the internal temperature increases. To prevent overheating of body due to this and reaching a dangerous level — which may result in the destruction of some cells causing heat stroke in some cases, our sweat glands open up to secret sweat. When this comes in contact with the atmospheric air, evaporation kicks off dissipating body heat out and helping it cool down faster.

While it’s a necessary and healthy mechanism for homeostasis, it doesn’t signify improved calorie burning in a workout. if it was the case, we all would turn into our slimmer selves in the summer season than in winters, wouldn’t we? 😉

Have you ever noticed that you suddenly feel warmer and even sweat a bit immediately after eating? That is also due to the same mechanism of the body to cool down itself, when it starts to heat up because of the body metabolism which has just begun due to the hearty meal you had.

What happens to the burnt calorie then?

During exercise, the majority of the calories you burn generate heat and carbon dioxide. Sweat is just a useful byproduct during body’s response mechanism to heating up and not what you have been imagining it to be. (If you are the ones affected by this myth, that is.)

Hydration during the workout sessions

Hydration becomes paramount because of this. Your body needs to have a good supply of water to keep the process efficient and consistent. Have a bottle of water near your workout area and drink as per your thirst. Sip slowly and frequently in the breaks.

What really happens when Calorie Burns?

Duration and intensity of the workout are two major factors for an impactful calorie-burning session. While sweat plays the role of getting rid of excess body heat, it is the body heat plus carbon dioxide that comes out of you as the output. Both of which you can’t measure anyway. Along with that, with the help of regular exercise, your Basic Metabolism Rate (BMR) increases burning the calories even when you are not working or (sweating)

Sweating is believed to promote weight loss. Indeed, you may lose weight due to water loss during a session but that will unavoidably come right back. It’s not something to count on for true fat loss.

Are you one to believe that a good sweat is necessary to ensure that you are having an effective workout?
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Is sweating good, bad, or doesn’t matter?

To sum up, if not switching the fan / AC on for the fear of reducing the effectiveness of your workout is not helping you anyway, and you have the means available for your to cool down your body, by all means, go ahead and use that and be reasonably comfortable.

Does this mean we don’t need to sweat at all if we have the access to AC or fans? No, sweating in addition to doing what I have explained above, is an excellent way to flush out certain toxins, remove impurities, dirt, and bacteria stuck in the skin. Which in turn, improves skin texture, elasticity, softness, and clarity. This is a much healthier way of achieving that flawless skin that we all aspire to have, than spending a ton on cosmetics.

Now that you are armed with the most important information on cardio workout sessions, sweating, and calorie burning facts, you know how to make a reasonably sweated workout session. Also, remember to have enough water to maintain hydration.

_{Photo credits: Sarah Cervantes on Unsplash Ben Lambert on Unsplash}
_{Sushil Ghimire on Unsplash}